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Diaz vs Katsidis & Juarez vs Barrios: Prediction(s)

This Saturday, September 6th, HBO will provide what looks to be a great boxing double header, first we have Rocky Juarez vs Jorge “La Hiena” Barrios, and then for the main event, we have Juan “Baby Bull” Diaz vs Michael “The Great” Katsidis.

Should we expect fireworks? I think so…..we have four exciting fighters taking the stage

Juarez vs Barrios, is a boxer puncher vs slugger fight, Juarez typically a bit more technical but posses a superb left hook, then we have Barrios who is a non-stop slugger with stunning power, so….

Who will win?

Well, to be honest, I was never really a fan of Juarez, I usually picked his opponent to win every time he fought, but using my head and not my heart, Juarez is a good boxer with sound technical ability. Juarez is not the average boxer with a rock solid jab and swift combinations, but still a very sturdy and strong fighter, he loves to get in close and he’s willing to work hard to get there, once inside, Juarez can use his short stature and power to get off his left hooks and straight right hands. Barrios on the other hand, doesn’t use technical maneuvers to slay his opponents, but rather more of a steam roll approach, he comes straight forward and attacks with (at times) wild looping punches, although his weaponry is not as sharp as Rocky’s, the punches do carry power and he loves to brawl.

In this fight, I see Juarez’s boxing ability coming into effect as he out boxes and eventually knocks Barrios out. Barrios does have a good chin and big heart, he took some monstrous shots from KO artist Acelino Frietas in their fight back in 2003, Barrios was indeed stopped in the 12th round, but showed great toughness as he dropped Frietas twice before being dropped himself.But what can also happen (and I have witnessed it in the past) is a boxer Juarez being caught and hurt by a more wild power punching foe, like Juarez, Barrios loves to get in close where he can bomb away, and if Rocky doesn’t use a more measured approach when coming in, those wild looping shots can and will land. I believe Barrios is the strongest of the two, but Juarez is no slouch, he’s been in there with some very good fighters and has yet to be broken, look for Rocky’s left hook that he’ll land somewhere around the 8th or 9th to stop the wild Barrios in what seems to be a very interesting match up.

Well, seeing as both these men are fighting for the first time after their first professional loss, it’s going to be a pretty tough fight to predict, both coming in well prepared (it seems) and neither fighter wants to lose again.In his fight with veteran Nate Campbell, Diaz’s usual pressure, overwhelming style seemed to lack something, and regardless of what Diaz may say about outer ring distractions being his demise, it is power that he lacks, with only 17 KO’s in 33 bouts, power isn’t a big part of his arsenal, most KO’s seem to come from sheer volume punching and aggression that wear his opponents down. Katsidis on the other hand is indeed a puncher, with 20 KO’s in 23 wins, power is on his side, he looks to pressure and unleash as many power punches as possible, his biggest mistake is lunging in, giving his opponent an easy target, this was exposed by the slick southpaw Joel Casamayor, in that fight, Katsidis lost his focus and lunged in with his hands wide and left a clear opening and Casamayor took advantage with a straight left hand that floored Katsidis. With that being said, I find it hard to believe that Katsidis can land cleanly on the chin of Diaz, mainly because Diaz has good head movement and he keeps his hands high, Katsidis must use a sustained body attack to bring Diaz’s hands down giving him an opening to the head. With his constant pressure and relentless style, Diaz can surely outwork Katsidis to a fairly easy unanimous decision, but if Diaz stands and bangs with Katsidis, he puts himself is a position to be hit and maybe hurt, Diaz must use his jab to measure Katsidis and just do what he does best, and that’s to throw throw and throw some more. Katsidis on the other hand, has to make this an “ugly” fight, get Diaz to fight his fight, to brawl with him and trade. Overall, this should be a good fight, I can’t make a solid prediction, but since I think both can beat the other if they put their mind it to it, all I will say is: If Diaz boxes, he will coast to a decision win, if he stands and bangs, he can be slowed down and hurt by the powerful Katsidis. Now, Katsidis must brawl, hit Diaz to the body as often as possible, then attack the head when those elbow’s of Diaz drop.

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This entry was posted on September 5, 2008 at 3:08 and is filed under Pick-em.
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